St. Louis Media Hall of Fame announces 14 new inductees

ST. LOUIS – Reporters, editors, broadcasters, managers, producers and advertisers are among the 14 inductees of the new class of the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame, it was announced today.

The new inductees were selected by the board of directors of the St. Louis Media History Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization that researches, collects, and archives local media-related artifacts and memorabilia. They will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at a gala on March 21 at St. Louis’ Last Hotel, 1501 Washington Ave.

The inductees are:

TV

Fred Caesar – Began as an intern at KMOX-TV and worked there and at KSD-TV as a producer, writer, editor, reporter and assignment editor before moving to news director’s positions in Pennsylvania and Maine.

Jack Galmiche – As the general manager of KETC, he focused the station’s efforts around new forms of community engagement and expanded the reach of the station’s programming and content through four local channels and digital distribution. He also spearheaded the Nine Center for Public Engagement, a first of its kind community engagement center in the Nine Network.

Tim McCarver – Former Cardinal catcher who has broadcast baseball for all four networks. Has broadcast the World Series nationally numerous times. In his late 70s he is still a presence on the Cardinals’ games on Fox Sports Midwest.

Tom O’Neal – St. Louis TV anchor for 41 years at KSD-TV/KSDK and KTVI.

Radio

Carole Carper – The first female black news director in the market, Carper worked at WESL, KADI and KMJM in the ‘70s. Later became the first female of color to serve on the board of the Radio/TV News Directors’ Association.

Peter Maer – He began as a disc jockey at WGNU, moving to WIBV, WEW and KSHE. After more than 50 years in radio he retired in 2015, having spent more than 30 years covering the White House for CBS Radio and NBC/Mutual. He received the Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage of the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Print

Dwight Bitikofer and Don Corrigan – Publisher and editor-in-chief of the Webster-Kirkwood Times newspaper group and the West End Word. These papers and subsidiary publications have served their local communities for over 40 years.

Jeannette Batz Cooperman – Staff writer and former editor-in-chief of St. Louis Magazine. Won numerous awards including Magazine Writer of the Year in 2019. Recently recognized by “Folio” Magazine, which called her one of the “best and brightest minds in the magazine industry today.”

Arthur Donnelly – Donnelly and current Print Media HoF member Frank X. Bick were the original founders of would later become the Suburban Newspapers of Greater St. Louis. The Donnelly papers had 33 individual publications at their peak.

Dan Martin – Started at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1980. Has drawn the Weather Bird for over 30 years and, more recently, Postcards from Mound City. Martin has been instrumental in bringing recognition to the paper’s previous Weather Bird cartoonists, highlighting and preserving the history of cartooning in St. Louis.

Ben Thomas – Began publishing the Night Whirl as a local entertainment paper in 1938, changing the name to the Evening Whirl the next year. His colorful coverage of crime stories was sprinkled with nuance and opinion, and the newspaper gained a cult following. Thomas retired in 1995.

Advertising/Public Relations

Steve Puckett – A veteran of Gardner advertising, Puckett was SVP/creative director at Vinyard Lee. Started the Puckett Group in 1987 in his basement when Gardner shut down. Two years later the agency won a national ADDY for its work with Missouri Blue Cross.

Dick Vinyard – Early work at Winfield Advertising led him and a partner to create the firm Vinyard & Lee in 1973. The agency created campaigns for dozens of area clients in the ’70s and ’80s.

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